Protests in Egypt

Egyptian security forces have deployed en masse across the capital, Cairo, Wednesday amid calls by protest leaders to continue demonstrating despite a ban. In central Cairo, Egyptian activists clashed with security forces stationed nearby as thousands of Interior Ministry troops stood watch along key roads and bridges to keep passersby from congregating. The Egyptian Interior Ministry warned on its website that public demonstrations would not be tolerated. Protest organizers reported scattered mobile phone outages and a blockage of the social websites Twitter and Facebook to prevent them from mobilizing supporters. Top opposition activist Abdul Jalil Mustapha called on President Hosni Mubarak not to seek re-election. He said the opposition is asking President Mubarak to announce that he will not run for re-election and that his son, Gamal, will not run in his place. Mustapha also insisted that both houses of parliament be dissolved and transparent elections be held.  Mass protests in Egypt, one of the darlings of African and Middle Eastern investors, sharply increase the risks that international investors will withdraw funds from some other economies in the region. Fund managers were relatively sanguine about the upheaval in Tunisia which drove President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee earlier this month, as Tunisia is a frontier market which doesn't feature on many portfolio managers' radar screens. But they did then point to the potential for contagion across parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with Gulf markets seen as relatively insulated, but Egypt an especially big risk. That contagion appears to have started. Egypt's currency hit a near-six year low, stocks fell 6 percent and debt insurance costs soared to their highest in 18 months on Wednesday, a day after massive "Day of Wrath" demonstrations called for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Protesters who tried to gather on Wednesday were quickly dispersed and the government said it was banning demonstrations. But significant damage has been done to investor confidence. At least $150 million left Egyptian local bond markets on Wednesday, according to data from investment bank Citi.